Sania Tariq Family Child Care, Bowie

Hello parent, thank you so much for your review. I would first of all like to apologize one more time for the pain your baby went through & the stress you have gone through due to events that took place on that day. In no way will this response be written in retaliation of the events that occurred or to any statement that you have made in your review. It is simply how you felt & I respect that. If my child was hurt in any way, I would also be concerned & rather upset - I sympathize with you. However, at the same time, I do feel like as a fellow parent & a very proud owner of a daycare, which has been running for 4 years without a single complaint, I can at least explain the events of the day, for further understanding. This parent had decided to join our daycare after reading countless positive reviews that span over these 4 years, more than 17 children, from different age ranges 6 weeks all the way up to 5 years. Finally they came in for a tour & we had a great time & the baby joined our daycare! Before the first day, mum was really anxious, as any first time mum with a first experience of a daycare would be. To help her ease-in I scheduled a call with her the previous week which went on for more than hour, walking her through the day, answering any questions she had - this itself is a major sign of my dedication to child care. Not just the child, but also the parents are important to me. This Monday was baby’s first day after he celebrated his first birthday last week, he came in shortly before 9am. I explained to the parent that this week itself will be a hard week for the baby, transitioning from home for a child who’s never been in a daycare is very very hard. But we will do everything we can to ease him in. He played for a while, read books with us, did circle time, took a few short naps, ate his lunch & snack well. Like any infant, on his first day he was happier with me holding him non-stop as I was the closest figure to the adults he was usually with. Anytime I would put him down to even help another child, or change another diaper, he would cry. I would then quickly pack up anything I was doing & again pick him up and he would be just fine. This happened all day repeatedly. Baby went home happy that day! No complaints from mummy that night. And they came back the next morning - the day of the incident. He came in shortly before 9 happy straight into my arms did not fight it. We took him in and the day started with playing & reading time all whilst I was there with them. Again every time I was helping another child in any way he would cry, which infants do often whilst settling into a new environment. So I would run back to him - as that’s what we do to ensure the child doesn’t get anxious in any way & to make sure the child knows that we are there to help him. Twice during that morning I went to the bathroom, which we do on a regular basis while the children are in a safe enclosed space. Both times as soon as I put him down, he cried so I would rush and try rushing back as soon as I could. Both times I came back and as soon as I picked him up, the baby was absolutely fine a second later. At 11:30 my substitute was scheduled to come in every single day of this week, not to cover me in anyway but I had her come in for an extra set of hands at the daycare specifically for this baby, so he would have an adult with him at all times. I had thought if one adult was with baby the other could then attend to the other children. Again an extra measure we had taken specifically for this infant. She comes in we give everyone lunch, the baby has his lunch happily with one adult sitting right with him. She holds him whilst I clean up. We have not heard the baby cry once since. After lunch we head down and a short while later he falls asleep in her arms so we put him in his crib for his nap. Baby peacefully slept for just under 2 hours. We wake him up, change his diaper, he’s in a great mood. He has a snack and shortly after 3 dad picks him up. And baby looks absolutely fine, isn’t reacting in anyway that he’s lethargic or calmer than his usual self (as seen & reviewed by our home door cameras). At 9pm a whole 6 hours after leaving the daycare - whilst the parent gives the baby a bath sees that he has a bite on his shoulder and one on his back. Sends me pictures right away. As per conversation I explain to her that unfortunately I did not see it happening - otherwise she would have been notified right away. A physical mark on a baby will be seen by the parents one way or the other - I would have no reason whatsoever to hide this from a parent, it makes no sense. The truth is I had thought the baby was crying because I had left and gone to the toilet, in no way had I imagined that he was bitten or hurt in any manner. The bites were in a place under his shirt - which again either I nor the substitute would have seen as we only remove the trousers to change the child’s diaper and have no reason to remove the shirt - clearly how we had missed it in the first place. That’s not 1 but 2 adults. I then apologized and notified the parent, that we have another infant only 16 months at the time (not a repetitive biter, nor aggressive, so it’s not about keeping a biter in our daycare it was an innocent child who didn’t know better) who’s teething who tried to bite me twice in the same day and was trying to bite anything he could find. We realized he was teething, we took appropriate measures. And since then had not one incident. Not one. As sad as we are that the baby went through this and the stress it has caused the parent, we had no idea this would happen. Not in 4 years have I had an incident in the daycare of such kind, even if a child gets a scratch at the daycare, I notify the parents the same second (which can be backed through the same parents - who would happily give you an in-person review) I have had no formal/informal complaint before this either. Any parent wishing to see parent references or speak to fellow parents who are still attending, my longest standing parents who came to me with a 6 week old baby who is now turning 4, or parents who have graduated the daycare yet still meet us on the weekends with their kids as we miss one another. Most importantly, their children miss us. You are more than welcome to contact me and I will connect you to these parents who are part of our family from the day they joined and even after graduating. We are incredibly sad for the pain the child & the parents went through & sympathize with them. We look forward to making this a lesson for us at the daycare and taking further appropriate measures to make sure this never happens again. We have installed a playpen in the main area of the daycare that will remain there at all times. Whenever we go to the bathroom or have any other reason to turn away from an infant enrolled in the daycare, we will place the child in that playpen every single time, making sure that the child is away from the reach of other children and is safe at all times. We apologize once again to you Kamaria & Carl, I feel your pain as I am a parent myself. We send our love to baby M & hope he gets well soon.